


Same Difference.

by Perlmutt



Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Alternate Universe - Office, Business Rivals, Businessmen, Fake Marriage, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Fluff, Getting Together, Happy Ending, Humor, Idiots in Love, M/M, Office Party, Pining, Romantic Comedy, Sneaky Steve Rogers, Tony Feels
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-28
Updated: 2020-06-28
Packaged: 2021-03-03 20:27:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,480
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24821581
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Perlmutt/pseuds/Perlmutt
Summary: Tony and Steve are the successful heads of two different divisions of SHIELD IT Security and are the walking wet dreams of all ladies in the company. Tony Stark is the elegant genius with his dark humor while the newcomer Steve Rogers is known for his gentlemanly behaviour and kindness. On the surface the two men are rivals. But there's more to it than meets the eye...Canteen food is horrible, the intern is chaotic, and Tony goes toe-to-toe with a hyena to rescue the princess who doesn't need to be rescued...-Stony Loves Steve 2020
Relationships: Steve Rogers/Tony Stark
Comments: 14
Kudos: 142
Collections: Stony Loves Steve 2020





	Same Difference.

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Huntress79](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Huntress79/gifts).



> For Huntress79  
> I combined your prompts "Fake/Pretend Marriage" and "Business Rivals" and this is the result. I hope you like the outcome! <3
> 
> Thank you, MusicianRiska, for beta-ing!
> 
> (English is not my mother language, any remaining typos and mistakes are my own.)
> 
> The title was inspired by a BL manga.
> 
> Have fun with this story!  
> \- Perlmutt

“Damn him! He outdid me again!” Tony glared at the paper in his hands as if it offended his mother. It was lunch break and he was sitting next to Rhodey in the canteen of Shield, the largest IT security company in the US. His pasta was slowly getting cold and his iced tea warm, but he didn't care. At the moment there was nothing more important than the monthly report in his hands that showed him black on white that the Marketing and Design division had surpassed his own division -Research and Development- again. It was the fourth time in a row.

“Rhodey, this guy can't be real! How the fuck does he do this? Ever since he's head of Marketing the sales go through the ceiling. We can't invent as fast as he's selling the tech we make! This guy has to be a Jedi or a witch or a- a fucking siren to bewitch the people… this is unreal!” His eyes flew over the numbers again. There was no arguing it. Steve Rogers was the uncrowned king of business and Tony would be damned if he didn't fight tooth and nail to reclaim his place at the top as the most successful division of the company.

“He also received another love letter and was invited to three dates within the last four days.” Rhodey supplied between two bites of sandwich. There was sauce dripping from it onto the newspaper he was reading. “Does this mean he's catching up on you on that front as well? Are you finally willing to admit defeat?”

Tony grumbled something unintelligible into his fork full of cold pasta and hoped nobody could see the faint blush on his cheeks.

It was true. All of it. Steve Rogers was the rising star not only in the business but also when it came to the ladies (and gentlemen on Tony's part). Their superiors pretended to be blind regarding the unofficial list of _Most Desirable Man_ inside Shield. It was an open secret that Tony had been the undefeated emperor of that list ever since he'd started working in this company. That had been eight years ago. He had also helped the company to achieve major breakthroughs with his advanced inventions. He deserved that fucking first place! And now there was this rookie, freshly recruited from Hammer Industries (Ha! Take that, Hammer!) who had managed to become head of his own division at the age of twenty-six and snatch the silver medal of _The List_ within seven months of working for Shield.

Tony was furious. Or at least he wanted to be furious. He wanted to be pissed, he wanted to be angry but mostly he was just sulky. Because Steve Rogers was the personification of goodness. It was physically impossible to hate him. If a cinnamon roll would decide to become human, it would be him. Where Tony was the elegant genius with his dark humor, sharp mind and a wicked tongue (pun absolutely intended), was Rogers the old-school gentleman with his god-like body, puppy dog eyes and bashful smiles that made him look so charmingly innocent despite his height and impressive built. He'd wrapped everyone around his little finger. He was the kind of person who knew every colleague by their name and what grade school their children visited, who helped old ladies cross the street and who would fetch kittens from trees for snotty children. Tony didn't have proof of that last point, but Rogers surely looked like that. He'd only interacted with the guy a few times when their divisions worked together to launch a new product line or when there were complications of some kind. One time he even met him in the men's bathroom and hadn't that been kind of awkward? And every time he met the man had Tony realize anew that he had a big, very big problem.

No matter how fucking infuriating the hulking blonde was with his success rate, Tony had still fallen for him.

Tony had fallen fast and hard. He'd only realized it when he'd seen Rogers leave the building a few days after his promotion to division head with Peggy Carter in his arms. The picture of the two of them laughing together had haunted him for days until he overheard his female colleagues gossiping about Carter's engagement to some ex-army soldier. Tony would forever deny that his heart had jumped in his chest at the news. It meant that Rogers was still in the market. It didn't mean that Tony would get a chance with him. Tony was secretly bi, sure, but Steve Rogers was probably straighter than straight and not at all interested in a middle-aged man such as himself. But at least he could stare as much as he wanted at every chance he got, without feeling guilty because he was checking out someone else's fiancé. To keep the ruse up he was doing his best to stare as sneaky as possible. Over the edge of a newspaper, in the corner of the breakroom nursing a cup of coffee, on his way to the elevators and maybe in the parking lot. He was super stealthy, no matter what Rhodey said. Yeah, okay, maybe he didn't hook up with women as often as before (or at all for that matter), too busy thinking about what it would feel like to have Rogers' strong arms around his middle or how amazing it would be if he got to comb his fingers through that golden locks. If only he could-

“-ony? You still with me? Earth to Tony?”

Tony snapped out his thoughts and blinked, focusing back at Rhodey who held his empty food tray in one had and had been waving his other in front of his face to get his attention.

“The ultimate answer is forty-two.”

“What?”

“What?”

Rhodey sighed and stood up from their table. “I wanted to let you know that lunch break is over. You gotta get back to the lab. Parker is coming over, showing you his progress on that-” Rhodey stopped mid-sentence and looked at him, one eyebrow cocked. “You were daydreaming about _that_ _guy_ again, weren't you?”

Tony felt himself blush. “No! Of course not! Platypus, how can you say that? You know you're the only one for me! Also, he's my archnemesis! If, and only if, I was thinking about him it was about how I could finally beat him! So, see you later Rhodey! I gotta run!” Tony scrambled to tidy up his mess and shoved the last bite of his lunch in his mouth. Cold canteen pasta was not tasty, but it gave him an excuse to occupy his mouth otherwise so he wouldn't have to talk about that topic. He deposited his tray in the designated tray trolley and hurried to get to his lab. He didn't need Peter to give him another lecture about punctuality. The teenage intern was his favorite and the only one who knew about his hilarious crush and didn't make fun of him about it. Quite the opposite, the boy seemed to have made it his personal goal to get Tony and Steve together. It would be quite endearing if it wasn't that annoying…

.oOo.

A few days later had Tony fumbling with the buttons on his sleeve while he bit on the edge of the paper cup which was filled to the brim with coffee. Peter had just left the lab to clean up and change clothes, but not without bugging him about Rogers to no end. He was also responsible for the green goo explosion a little while ago. Tony still had no idea where the goo had come from. And why it smelled like lavender. But he still had some of it in his hair.

It was late afternoon by now and Tony needed a break. Too much teenager vibes had disturbed his brain capacity and he really needed a breather. Therefore he'd made his way over to the small break room, two floors down. It was also the smoking area with a small balcony from where you could overlook the whole crossroad and the park next to the company building. It was empty most of the times, not a lot of people seemed to have a liking for nicotine at Shield. But therefore it was a perfect hiding spot. The gentle summer wind was pleasant and the soft background noises from the city around them were like birds twittering to him. He leaned with his elbows at the railing, took a sip of his hot beverage and let his gaze wander until his eyes suddenly found another person behind him, leaning against the wall of the building.

“Holy fucking shit!” He jumped a foot in the air and clutched at the front of his shirt. “Give a guy a warning, will you?!”

Rogers just raised one eyebrow at him utterly unimpressed, but his lips curved into a small smile. “Hello to you too, Mr Stark.” He raised his own coffee cup in a small greeting gesture.

Tony cursed when he saw the brown specks on his white shirt where his coffee left stains from the sudden movement next to the green goo blotches. He smoothed his rumpled shirt down, brushed the long strands of his dark wild hair from his forehead and turned around, searching for something to say. Rogers was a piece of art. He was taller and broader than Tony and if that wasn't a turn-on in itself, the guy had also a face with which he could work for Gucci. Yeah, the guy wasn't just out of Tony's league, it was like he was playing a totally different type of sport.

“What are you doing here?” He blurted and wasn't that just the perfect way of starting a conversation with his secret crush? Well done, Tony, well done.

Rogers threw a long glance at his ceramic coffee cup and took another sip of it before he answered. “To be honest, I thought that was obvious. I enjoy my coffee break.”

“No shit, Sherlock.” Tony deadpanned and he didn't know why but that somehow made Steve smile a bit more. “I was just wondering why you are here? On this balcony. No one comes out here, it's practically my secret hideout by now, so tell me again, Mr Rogers, why are you here? If I recall correctly, your division has its own break room and your office is just around the corner.”

There was a faint red color now on Steve's cheeks and Tony gripped the railing a bit harder so he wouldn't just go over to the guy and kiss it off.

“It's an embarrassing reason.” He muttered into his cup and averted his eyes.

Tony wanted to put him into a bag and take him home.

“I wont laugh, pinky promise!” He held up one hand to show his finger.

Rogers sighed, deposited the now empty cup on the nearby table and crossed his arms over his chest and hello there, here came the muscles. “You ever heard the name Everhart?”

Tony groaned. Yes, he knew the name and the woman behind it. “Christine Everhart? The hyena of the PR department? Who doesn't know her?”

“Well, that saves me a lot of explaining.” Rogers sighed and rubbed a hand over his forehead. “She came over the sixth time this week and to be honest, I really don't know how long I can be polite around her anymore.”

Tony winced. Yeah, that sounded just like her. Christine could be flattering and flirtatious, but also irritating and vicious. She was also known to boast with her male conquests in and out of the company and apparently she had her eyes on poor Steve now. God knew, the women could destroy someone's reputation when she wanted. Steve had two options, as Tony saw it: give in to her advances and live in peace afterward or decline her offer a few times too often and be destroyed by her. There was this poor guy a few years ago, Paul had been his name, if Tony remembered correctly. He'd declined her obvious invitations one time too often and after a few rough weeks of rumors and whispering behind his back, he'd quit his job with burnout syndrome. Tony wasn't proud of it, but he'd also fallen into her trap years ago, shortly after he'd joined the company. It had been a simple one night stand, no feelings and no strings and he was glad that she'd apparently lost interest in him after that.

“Sorry to hear that.” He offered. It was somehow weird to talk with Rogers about that kind of topic, even though they both were the on the top of _The List._ “So, you want her to back off. You're single, right? Maybe you could just pretend and tell her that you're seeing someone? What about Sharon? I'm sure she'd play along.” Oh, how he hated the thought of seeing Steve and Sharon be couple-y around him, but if it would safe Steve from Christine, he'd offer advice in any form.

“Can't do that.” Rogers answered with a shrug and added at Tony's confused look, “She's my cousin. The rumors about _that_ would be more than horrible.”

“Oh, sorry, I wasn't aware.” He admitted and snapped his fingers at Rogers with a new idea. “What about Natasha then? Natasha Romanoff is probably secretly a spy for some kind of government, but she would be in it if you offered her a bunch of new shoes.” Natasha and Pepper were the queens of fashion and had a mutual passion about heels that should count as weapons. “Also, everyone would buy it. You are famous among the ladies and Natasha is beautiful and scary. And even if she says no, you still have a whole company to pick from. I'm sure the girls would claw each other's eyes out for the opportunity to pretend to be you girlfriend.” He took another sip of his coffee and stared into the cup with furrowed brows. He'd offer to play the part of being Steve's lover himself if he'd be interested.

Shit, had he said that out loud?  He didn't, right? He  glanced at Steve who didn't seem fazed in the slightest. No, he was smiling!  Tony raised his coffee to his lips when Steve opened his mouth again.

“As lovely as the idea of pretending to be steady with someone is...” Steve started and somehow had his stunningly blue eyes fixed on him. “A female lover just wouldn't work for me.”

Tony heard the words leave his mouth and promptly choked on his coffee. He stared at the blonde with wide eyes while he tried to bring his breathing under control. “Wh-what…? I mean- what?” He cleared his throat a few times and felt his face flush, whether from embarrassment or from the coughing, he wasn't sure.

Steve  Rogers just smiled at him with a  tiny  blush high on his cheeks  and Tony tried to not appreciate the way it accentuated his features  and made him look like a strawberry fairy .  He  suddenly came over to Tony and leaned in until his lips were right next to Tony's ear.  A  small  shudder ran down his spine  at his pleasantly rumbling voice .

“I'm gay, Mr Stark.”

Tony was sure his brain just short-circuited, his thoughts were running around in circles and his head was spinning with scenarios and possibilities. He gaped unblinking into space until he felt Rogers retreat slightly so he could look up into the smug and almost daring expression on the blonde's face. The movement made him catch a whiff of the taller man's aftershave and he felt instantly heady. Their little bubble of awkward intimacy suddenly burst with the rattling of the sliding door and Peter calling out for him.

“Mr Stark, are you out here? Oh, Mr Rogers! Hi, my name is-” Peter greeted him, but Steve beat him to it.

“I know who you are, Peter, and it's nice to finally meet the famous troublemaker of R&D in person.” Smiling at the teen he picked up his own empty coffee cup. He went to leave the two baffled brunets on the balcony but turned around again just when he reached the door. “It was nice to chat with you. I'll see you around, Tony.”

The guy had the nerves to  cheekily  wink at Tony over his shoulder before he closed the door behind him. Tony still stood exactly where Steve had left him behind, gaping like a fish.

“Mr Stark? Did Mr Rogers just flirt with you?” The teen nudged his elbow grinning wide, and yelped when his mentor's coffee cup fell from his lax fingers and the content drenched his pant legs. “What the fuck, Mr Stark?!”

.oOo.

Tony hated company c e lebrations.

Evenings full of fake smiles, cheap alcohol, and noisy colleagues. When he'd been younger he'd loved nights like those. It was an opportunity to easily get drunk and get himself a woman for the night to warm his bed. But he was getting older. It was Friday evening and he felt it in the way his feet hurt after a long week of standing and running around in the office and lab and, oh, how he wished for his comfortable couch, a fresh pizza and Netflix. If Peter would have been invited he would at least have had an excuse to spend the whole evening talking science with him and ogle Steve over the rim of his glass without feeling too ridiculous.

S trangely, s omething had changed between them in the last three weeks, since that fateful day when they'd met on the balcony and Rogers had revealed his little secret.  Now, a lmost every time Tony sneaked a careful glance at the blonde, he found it returned. Steve sought him out. In the canteen, the elevator and even the photocopy room. Small conversations, sometimes teasing and sometimes friendly. It wasn't much, Tony still didn't know his favorite Ghibli movie or if he preferred Coke or Fanta, but it was… nice. It was  freaking him out, to be honest, but it also let stupid butterflies flutter in his stomach and he  caught himself looking forward to the next day at work. Was this Steve flirting with him? Or was that just wishful thinking on his part again? He didn't kn o w for sure, but maybe this evening gave him an opportunity to  investigate a little further...

When he'd entered the room earlier, Tony had almost fallen over his own feet when he had laid eyes on the man in question. Black shoes, a dark blue suit that accentuated his azure eyes, combined with a faintly cream-colored dress shirt that highlighted his fair hair.

The man was sex on legs.

And Tony was apparently not the only one who adored the way the fabric clung to his shoulders and how his butt was a sin in those pants,  if he took into consideration how many female heads turned around  to look at him .

Rogers stood in the middle of a small group of people, and he and his present company -composed of his co-workers Barnes, Romanoff, Barton, and Wilson- were apparently having a great time. All of them held glasses or small plates in their hands. Tony busied himself with the canapes from the buffet and stared for a while, fantasizing about how it would be to get his hands on that man, to claim him as his own so no one would be allowed to come near him. In his head he stood tall with a shield and a sword in front of Steve to defend him from all odds, but in reality it would probably be Tony hanging from Steve's side like a little monkey, hissing like a cat at everybody who dared to look at them weirdly.

Suddenly he felt the c alculating stare of Natasha Romanoff and knew this was his cue to go. He sighed. Well, the evening had just started, he'd have enough time to look at Steve over the next few hours. So he grabbed another canape and found his  own group of friends standing in one corner, next to  an ominously looking potted ficus tree.

He kissed Pepper on the cheek, briefly hugged Rhodey and greeted Bruce with a friendly pat on the shoulder. His favorite people from Intern Security -the wonder brothers Thor and Loki- joined them after a while and with all the friendly bickering and stories they exchanged,  did he almost forg e t to look out for Steve.

A kind of forceful elbow to his ribs turned him around and he stared at Pepper with an offended look, a remark on the tip of his tongue when she discreetly pointed to somewhere on the far wall of the room. “I think this might interest you more than the story how Thor caught the macaroni thief in the canteen.”

“What do you...” Tony trailed off and followed the line of her finger. His face must have somehow given him away because Pepper patted his cheek affectionately and took the empty champagne glass from him.

“You know...” She leaned in and whispered in his ear, a grin spreading her lips. “Natasha, Loki, Clint, Rodey and I have a betting pool about who's gonna make the first move.”

Tony  wa s not sure what  or if  he answered her, because right now his sole focus  wa s on Steve, who's being pestered by Christine again. Steve's smile  was obviously forced and he  held his arms close to his sides. Barnes attempts to lighten the mood and Wilson attempting to get between the two of them were futile and only led to Christine plastering herself to Steve's side more. She had one hand on Steve's strong forearm and Tony saw the blonde's eyebrows twitch. Tony watched in horror as the hyena slowly pulled Steve from his group of friends towards one of the many exits. His emotions battled if he should intervene or back off-

Until her perfectly manicured hand landed on Steve's ass.

T hat was the moment the Death Star exploded in his head .

He swiftly grabbed two fresh glasses  filled with tonic water  from a table and sauntered over to them. Subconsciously he knew that he didn't have a plan to rescue Steve from Christine without making a scene but he stomped that thought down. He'd simply improvise, he was a pro and his poker face was well-trained.

“Babe, there you are.”

Two blonde heads turned around at his voice. Steve's eyes were surprised and maybe there was relief somewhere in the deep blue. Christine looked at him like a predator, her fake smile sugary but she also looked like she desperately tried to hide the grimace she really wanted to make. Steve opened his mouth, but Christine was faster. Her words were sharp like knives.

“Tony. What a lovely surprise. I'm afraid Steve and I were about to go, weren't we, Steve?”

His b lue eyes flitted between them. When it was obvious that Steve wouldn't answer, Tony stepped in. He offered the glass to Steve who obediently took it.  It was now or never.

“Steve, honey, did you forget that you promised to take me out to our romantic midnight date?” He mock-pouted and simply shoved himself between the hulking blonde and Christine, taking over her spot on Steve's arm.

_TONY used Psycho Cut! CHRISTINE is confused!_

_Honey? Midnight date?_ Steve mouthed silently behind Christine. Confusion written over his features.

“Midnight date?” Christine echoed with sharp eyes. “What do you mean, Tony? He promised me to-”

“Sorry, Christine, darling. But I don't care what he might have promised you.” He grinned lopsided at her and enjoyed how her fingers twitched in anger at being interrupted that rudely. He needed to do that more often. “It's our date night and I plan on spending it with my fiance.”

“Fiance?!”

“Fiance?!”

“Yes, fiance.” Tony confirmed. Steve's arm flexed under his hand and Tony slid his own arm around Steve's back so he could pinch him under his jacket, a silent order to play along. At Christine's gobsmacked expression he mimed surprise and leaned in and lowered his voice. “You didn't know? Oh, I'm sorry, I was sure you already knew. He's told me so much about how often you visit his division lately. But don't worry, we haven't made it official yet, so this is kind of exclusive information. Please don't tell everyone, okay?” He winked at her to get his point across. He knew for sure that at least half the company would know by midnight.

She eyed them another moment with her fake smile still in place but also still not fully convinced, and crossed her arms over her chest. “Why come you didn't tell me that you are engaged in the first place? Steven, I'm really hurt, I thought we were getting along so well...”

Tony cut in before Steve had even a chance to open his mouth. “Oh, you know how shy he can be. It's practically famous by now. But he's a tiger in bed, right honey?”

“Tony, we're in public!” The taller man mockingly scolded him and Tony was surprised how well Steve was suddenly playing along. “No one needs to know that except you.” And was that -Holy Hell!- Steve's hand sliding down to the small of his back from where he'd initially put it on Tony's shoulder. All awkwardness was gone in a flash from Steve's stance and he practically oozed confidence. He turned to Christine with an apologetic look on his face. “I'm sorry, Christine, I didn't know how to tell you. Some people nowadays still have prejudices with same-sex relationships and I didn't want to make you feel uncomfortable around us. But since Tony let the cat out of the bag...”

Christine opened her mouth again to probably argue further with them until one of them slipped up and gave them away, but Tony was done with her. “Oh, look at the time!” He pointed with his glass towards the clock on the wall. “Steve, we'll miss our reservation if we don't hurry up. Christine, it was nice to talk to you, but we really need to go now. Come on, cinnamon roll.  P asta first, shower sex after.  Let's make use of the weekend. ” He downed his tonic water and deposited it on the table next to them.  He saluted Christine with two fingers to his temple and pulled Steve along. On the way to the exit he saw Natasha and Pepper high five and Rhodey gave him a knowing grin. Weirdly, they also got a thumbs up from Barnes.

The walk to the parking lot was quiet and the awkwardness of the whole situation suddenly caught up with Tony. What was he thinking?!  Knowing Christine, the whole company would know about their “Engagement” by Monday. They weren't even real friends and now everyone would be thinking that they were about to marry.  He'd probably just destroyed every chance he'd ever might have had with the blonde and he was already nervous what it would feel like to come back to work next week. Maybe he should just quit his job right here right now, to save himself the embarrassment.  Steve's hand  that was still  in his was suddenly very heavy but  Tony didn't dare to let go of him,  afraid of losing the only thing that still connected them . Only when they reached Tony's black BMW did he dare to stop and look into Steve's blue eyes. The orange  street lights around them made his hair look even more like spun gold.  Tony raked his free hand through his  own hair, unsure how he should apologize for the stunt he  just pulled.  He searched for the right words  while he wished for a hole in the ground so he could just bury himself.

“Listen, Steve, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have-”

“Pomodoro or Carbonara?” Steve suddenly interrupted him with an unreadable look.

“What?” Tony blinked owlishly at him. What did he miss this time?

“I wanted to know what kind of pasta you preferred.”

“I don't think I understand.” Tony stepped back until his back hit the side of the car while Steve came even closer, his eyes shining faintly in the dusk, until Tony had to slightly crane his head to look into his handsome face. Subconsciously he tried to free his hand from Steve's grip, but the taller man just intertwined their fingers further, trapping him in place.

“Pasta first, shower sex after.” He repeated Tony's words from before. There was a sly smile playing on his plush lips. “I think I like that plan.” With gentle fingers he cupped the side of Tony's face. At Tony's still confused look he continued. “Maybe I should thank Christine for her aggressive flirting. Without her, you would have probably never made your move, and I was sick of waiting. Do you think she would like a gift basket?”

Understanding dawned on Tony and he playfully punched the other's shoulder. He felt his cheeks heat up until he was blushing like a teenage girl. “You asshole! You knew exactly what kind of game she was playing and what I'd do!”

“What can I say, I'm a strategist.” Steve grinned wide and there was that adorable blush again that made him look so innocent even though he'd just admitted to being quite a sneaky bastard. “I didn't know for sure if you would come to my rescue, brave knight in shining armor, but I surely hoped for it. And I wasn't disappointed.”

Tony studied his  hopeful  face for a few heartbeats. Was this real? Did Steve Rogers, company-favorite boyscout of innocence, pull his pigtails like a lovestruck boy on a playground until he finally snapped? The warm hand in his and the gentle fingers on his cheek felt very real. This may be not what he had expected, but Steve proofed to be  a surprise in all aspects. It made him want to  further explore every corner that was him. And Tony was nothing if not curious.

He grinned and slowly pulled on Steve's black tie that the man was still wearing with his suit. “ Mr Rogers, i s this the point where you ask me out on a date? So our engagement will look foolproof?”

“I think you asked me out first, Mr Stark.” Steve grinned at him, the lights around them were reflected in his eyes and he gently let his fingers sweep over Tony's temple. “Let's talk tomorrow morning about marrying. The night is still young and who knows where it will take us.”

“I know where _my_ night will take me.” Tony pulled some more on Steve's tie. The coolness from the metal frame of his car that was pressed against his backside seeped through his clothes and was a stark contrast to Steve's warmth. It sent a shiver down his spine. “First I will enjoy delicious pasta and then I will end up in your bed. Hopefully with you naked on top of me. Or beneath me. I'm not picky.”

T here was a flash of hunger in Steve's eyes and the grip  around his fingers became tighter for a fraction  before he caught himself again . “ I can work with that. Let's make a pretty pretzel out of you, so I can enjoy where  _my_ night will take me.” The words were a low rumble in his chest. Steve's breath tickled his skin  and Tony felt a rush of heat course through his body.

And then Tony finally,  fucking finally, felt Steve's teasing mouth on his and the initially slow and careful kiss soon became deep and needy. It was a fight for dominance until Steve gently bit down on Tony's bottom lip. They broke the kiss  panting heavily, their foreheads touched, and both were drunk on hormones. Feelings and emotions that Tony couldn't name or grasp  tumbled over themselves in his head. The only thing he knew for sure was that he wanted more of  it.

“You know...” He started and locked eyes with Rogers. One corner of his mouth twitched up in challenge. “Maybe we should postpone the pasta and get straight to the part that involves you, me, your shower wall, and less clothes.”

“You know...” Steve smiled and leaned in again, coming impossibly closer to him. “Sometimes you have the best ideas.”

.oOo.

From then on, the first two places of _The List_ of Shield were perpetually claimed by the husbands Stark-Rogers, and the story of them secretly dating and being outed on a company celebration became an urban company legend.


End file.
